Modi, Godse believe in same ideology: Rahul on Mahatma’s death anniv

Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in the same ideology as Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the party’s ‘Save the Constitution’ rally in his Wayand constituency in Kerala on Thursday (January 30), which also marks the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

The former Congress chief was addressing thousands of party workers after the leading a march in Wayanad’s Kalpetta, organised in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and coinciding with the 72nd death anniversary of the Mahatma. In his speech, the Congress MP said Modi was making Indians to prove they are citizens of the country.

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi assassin Godse, he said Modi shared the same ideology with him (Godse). “Today, an ignorant man is trying to challenge Gandhi’s ideology. He is so full of hatred and anger that he cannot even understand what India’s strength is,” he said.

Also read | Rahul Gandhi leads ‘Save the Constitution’ march in Wayanad

“The ideology is same. Nathuram Godse and Narendra Modi, they believe in the same ideology. There is no difference except that Modi does not have the guts to say he believes in the ideology of Godse,” the Wayanad MP added.

Attacking the Prime Minister on the new Citizenship law, Gandhi questioned Modi and asked who was he to ask Indians to prove they were Indians. He said the country needs to fight the hatred that is being spread and there is a need to confront the BJP peacefully.

“Indians are being made to prove that they are Indians. Who is Narendra Modi to decide if I am Indian? Who gave him the licence to decide who is Indian and who is not Indian? I know I am an Indian and I don’t have to prove it to anybody,” he said adding the 1.3 billion Indians do not have to prove to these people that they are Indians.

“Our duty is to fight their hatred. Our duty is to confront them (BJP) peacefully…we do not believe in violence…we believe in love and affection. We will defeat them with love and affection,” he said. India, which is the land of different languages and religions, used to show the world how great a country it was, he said.

Also read | Nathuram Godse a villain for killing India’s greatest patriot, devout Hindu

Touching on growing unemployment in the country and the economic slowdown, Gandhi said youngsters do not have a future under Modi and no matter how much he talks about Pakistan, it was not going to get youths more jobs. National Register of Citizens (NRC) and CAA and the present situation in Kashmir were also not going to get people jobs, he added.

“We all understand that youngsters have no future under Modi…You can study as much as you can but there are no jobs. Today, if you go to the US, Western Europe, or any other country and ask what they feel about India, they say India has lost its way,” the former Congress president said.

Alleging the Prime Minister was “protecting” his “friends”, Gandhi said he has given away the ports and airports to the Adani group. The government was taking steps to privatise the Railways, various public sector undertakings, including BPCL, were being disinvested, he said.

(With inputs from agencies)